Pair – Square – Share

Purpose

Students generate ideas with a partner then share and compare responses with another pair.

Materials

• Questions, prompts, or tasks

Instructions

1. Organize students into pairs.
2. Student pairs work collaboratively to answer a Think It Up question, analyze an assessment item, summarize a vocabulary word, analyze a visual, or respond to text.
3. Two pairs then form a square.
4. Student pairs share their response to the question, task, or text.
5. Students may revise their original responses based on their discussions.
6. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Classroom Management

• Model how to get into pairs then model how to move into squares.

Differentiation

• Promote access by pairing with a supportive peer and/or allowing peer to read aloud any text.
• Provide response support by allowing the use of thinking stems to frame a response and/or using speech-to-text or word prediction support.

Think It Up!

• Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:
  • Compare/Contrast the two pairs’ responses.
  • Summarize in one sentence what you know better after the activity.
• Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.